BUTUAN CITY—The regional tourism office here has a “happy problem”: an unprecedented number of tourists are expected to descend on the island destination of Siargao for the Holy Week, but it also means preparing well security-wise, and more especially, in terms of ensuring the heavy human load does not max out the place’s capacity for renewing itself.
The influx of tourists spending their Holy Week in Siargao is seen to exceed previous years, as the island destination has become more accessible to local tourists—with more boats from the mainland and flights from other parts of the country.
“With easier accessibility to Siargao Island from both air- and sea-bound travelers, we expect nearly 15,000 tourists to arrive on the island for the start of the Holy Week celebration as the island destination has become more popular, especially with our local tourists,” said Ivonnie Dumadag, Regional Director, Department of Tourism (DOT) Caraga Region.
DOT Caraga said in a report that the projected tourist arrival in Siargao Island for the 2024 Holy Week celebration is at around 14,276 local and 628 foreign tourists, a whopping 785.56-percent increase over the 2023 record of 1,683 arrivals.
For the entire region, the report said a total of 38,137 tourists are projected to arrive this Holy Week, with 37,288 local and 850 foreign tourists. Not surprising: the entire region of Caraga is home to several tourist destinations located in the different provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Island.
For March a total of 42,505 tourists are expected to arrive, while the tourism office projects more as the summer months start to pick up more vacation travelers.
“For April, we are projecting around 63,874 tourists to arrive in Siargao Island, which will wrap up for a total of 106,379 for March and April; from that number we expect 100,894 will be local tourists while 5,485 from foreign visitors. This is a huge jump from what we had in 2023, which was 88,649 for both March and April,” said Dumadag.
Dumadag pointed out that DOT Caraga has recorded an increase in the local tourists’ arrival on Siargao Island in 2023 compared to the previous year with a 323.56-percent increase in growth for its tourist arrivals compared to its previous year, a jump from 125,088 tourists in 2022 to 529,822 tourist arrivals in 2023.
“While the popularity of Siargao has risen over the past few years, a huge factor for the increase is the better accessibility of the island from the rest of the regions and provinces in Mindanao. We now have more flights of between 12 and 14 to Sayak Airport in Del Carmen depending on the day of the week, coming from Manila, Cebu, Clark and Davao. We also now have no less than nine boat trips in a day from Surigao City to Dapa and Del Carmen port and from Claver to Socorro, which is also a part of Siargao,” said Dumadag.
Dumadag revealed that they have coordinated with several government agencies for preparations for the expected arrival of people at the bus terminals and ports throughout the region.
“We had a meeting with the city and provincial tourism officers last March 15 to discuss local preparations. We also coordinated with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to better plan our actions with our local sea and airport authorities to enhance airport security measures to manage the influx of tourists and refine tourist screening process to organize queues and streamline sea and airport procedures, thereby preventing extensive waiting lines,” she added.
Dumadag pointed out that the DOT regional satellite office in General Luna is monitoring the booking of tourist arrivals from the 149 accredited accommodation establishments. Hundreds of tourists will likely stay at other homestay establishments as the date draws closer.
Tourist boats for island hopping to the top three destinations in General Luna have also been augmented to accommodate the number of tourists visiting the beaches on popular island destinations like Daku, Naked and Guyam.
Other towns in Siargao, such as Pilar, Del Carmen, San Benito, Burgos and Bukas Grande in Socorro are also making preparations as tourists are expected to have them on their itinerary.
Sustainable ecotourism
WHILE the majority of the tourist establishments are located in the town of General Luna, which hosts the famous Cloud 9 surfing spot, the local government in the town of Del Carmen hopes to strictly implement their environmental safeguards even if it will have to limit the number of tourists in the town.
“For this Holy Week celebration, we are expecting as many as 1,500 visitors starting on Monday towards Maundy Thursday, but we estimate it will peak on Good Friday and Black Saturday with around 2,000 to 3,000 tourists visiting, yet even if we will have a much larger revenue from the tourist boat rentals going to our tourism sites, we will still implement strict environmental compliance,” said Leilani Lipio, municipal tourism officer of Del Carmen.
Del Carmen is considered Caraga Region’s top ecotourism destination, with its 4,871 hectares of mangrove forest described as the largest continuous mangrove stand in the Philippines. The town’s drive is to promote environmental conservation consciousness while adhering to ecotourism.
Their premier ecotourism destination is a natural cove known as Sugba Lagoon, known for its clear turquoise waters surrounded by natural limestone hills covered with vegetation and exotic native tree and plant species.
Amid the massive tourism growth, the town started the first natural rehabilitation of a tourism site. Since 2016, the LGU has allowed a monthlong reprieve for Sugba Lagoon from human disturbance.
“It’s the time we give for the lagoon to breathe, to heal, for one month every year; we allow nature to recover on itself. It’s more like a vacation leave, a time for the waters and its flora and fauna to heal as the lagoon is different compared to a beach, as it does not have a direct flow of water coming from the open sea,” said Del Carmen Vice Mayor Alfredo Matugas Coro II.
“The sudden influx of visiting guests enjoying the clear turquoise waters of the lagoon has skyrocketed. When we rehabilitated the lagoon years ago, our initial estimate was around 300 to 400, today, especially during peak seasons, it has tripled our previous estimates,” said Coro.
Lipio pointed out that they will still limit the number of tourists allowed to stay in Sugba Lagoon to 200-300 within a two- to three-hour trip; then the boats will either return to the tourism center or proceed to the two other island destinations with extra cost.
Lipio explained that the number of tourists visiting the lagoon has grown exponentially over the past few years, prompting the LGU to regulate the boats’ operations and limit to three hours the time tourists can stay in the lagoon area with each boat, to allow the next batch of tourists to experience the area.
According to Lipio, boat operators are instructed to limit guests’ time at Sugba Lagoon to accommodate other visitors. Visitors are prohibited from bringing single-use plastics or food to Sugba Lagoon. They can opt for an additional boat fee to explore and enjoy the world-class white-sand beach on Kawhagan Island, as well as Pamomoan, where they can have their meals.
“We now have 130 boats for trips towards Sugba and our other tourist destinations; this is an increase from the 115 boats operating in Del Carmen in 2023. We regulate the number of boats, with proper training, and handheld radio communication equipment, to properly monitor each trip and if they have exceeded the amount of time they are allowed to stay in Sugba Lagoon.”
Del Carmen was scheduled to open its 1.8-kilometer Mangrove Boardwalk on Saturday, offering tourists an option to explore while waiting for the boats to cycle in for the next batch. The local government aims to provide tourists with an appreciation of the expansive mangrove area and its diverse biodiversity.
A boat trip to Sugba Lagoon will cost P2,150, with an additional P900 if the tourist visits both the island beach destinations.
Image credits: ERWIN M. MASCARIÑAS